1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system for automatically recognizing all the locations of the respective tires of a vehicle.
2. Background Art
If the pneumatic pressure of the tire of a vehicle is too high or too low, unfavorable results may entail. For example, the tire may burst or the vehicle may easily slide, which may cause a terrible accident. Also, the vehicle may consume more fuel, which may cause a decrease in fuel efficiency. Further, the lifespan of the tire may be reduced. In addition, the sense of comfort and braking power may decrease. In particular, if the tire pneumatic pressure is low, a hydroplane phenomenon and a standing wave phenomenon may occur. If the tire temperature is excessively high, a heat separation phenomenon may occur.
As described above, tires are important elements required to perform safe operation of a vehicle, and thus a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), also called an automatic tire pneumatic pressure recognition system or a tire pressure recognition system, has been recently mounted on a vehicle, thereby allowing the defects of tires to be detected in advance.
The TPMS is designed such that the pressure and temperature of tires are recognized using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sensors attached on the respective tires, and information related thereto is sent to a display that can be viewed from a drivers' seat, so that a driver can check the pressure and temperature of the tires in real time. When this system is used, the durability of, the sense of comfort from, and the braking power of tires can be improved, fuel efficiency can be improved, and a phenomenon in which the body of a vehicle violently shakes can be prevented.
The TPMS first recognizes the locations of the respective tires of a vehicle, and then determines whether each of the tires is stable by checking the turning force, pneumatic pressure, and temperature of the corresponding tire using a sensor attached thereon. Therefore, in order to operate the TPMS, the automatic recognition of the locations of respective tires should first take place. In the prior art, Low Frequency Initiators (LFIs) are used for the automatic recognition of the locations of respective tires.
With reference to FIG. 1, a prior art automatic tire recognition system using a TPMS will be described. TPMS sensors are installed on the respective tire wheels of a vehicle, and LFIs are installed to be close to the respective tires. A TPMS receiver is installed inside the vehicle.
With regard to a process of operating the prior art automatic tire recognition system using a TPMS, a TPMS receiver 20 sends a TPMS operation signal to LFIS 30. Each of the LFIs 30 sends a startup signal in an LF region to a corresponding TPMS sensor 52. The TPMS sensor 52 which received the LF startup signal is woken up, and then sends an Identification (ID), which is unique to the corresponding TPMS sensor 52, to the TPMS receiver 20. The TPMS receiver 20 recognizes the locations of the respective tires 50 using the IDs received from the respective TPMS sensors 52, and displays the locations of the respective tires 50 on a cluster 10 that can be viewed from a driver's seat. When abnormalities occur on a tire 50 at a specific location, the TPMS receiver 20 notifies a driver of the location of the tire on which the abnormalities have occurred, thereby enabling the driver to actively manage the abnormalities.
However, such a prior art system for automatically recognizing the locations of respective tires using a TPMS has problems in that LFIs are installed on the respective tires, so that costs increase, and in that a large amount of costs for maintenance are required when failures occur on the LFIS.
Meanwhile, recently, a smart key system or a passive entry system is mounted in a vehicle together with the TPMS, which has been described above. The smart key system is configured such that, when a passenger carries an identification key (a key fob) and approaches a vehicle, the LF antennas mounted on the vehicle send respective LF signals to the identification key, so that a user is authenticated in conjunction with the identification key which is in communication with a smart key Electronic Control unit (ECU), and then doors and a trunk are opened. Recently, a smart key system is used to control the opening and closing of the doors of a vehicle and prevent robbery.
Both the smart key system and the TPMS use wireless communication. When both systems are mounted on a vehicle, various wireless communication components should be mounted, so that there are problems in that costs increase and communication errors occur.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.